Paul Gerald
|actor=Jurgen Prochnow |image=Gerald.png }} Commander Paul Gerald was the First Officer of the . History Gerald was commissioned in 2633.06 from the OCS. During his Academy days he was a competitive marksman. He spent almost all of his career aboard carriers and was very experienced. In 2641.042 he became the father of Sandy Gerald but he was divorced from his wife. On the first day of 2645 he was promoted to Commander. During his first year as XO the Claw''s wing saw a 23% jump in its efficiency rating with more successful missions and less casualties. Gerald brought newcomer Christopher Blair to Jason Sansky bringing a message from Geoffrey Tolwyn. From the first time Gerald saw skeptically Blair, as he knew of his father who married a Pilgrim woman. He was also skeptical about the contents of the message, and Sansky asked proof from Captain James Taggart, the pilot who came with Blair. Taggart gave the requested proof in the form of a family heirloom, which Sansky explained to Gerald that this proved Taggart had Tolwyn's trust and was not a saboteur or spy. In the process, Gerald questioned whether Taggart would be able to jump a pulsar to reach their destination, something only the Pilgrims could do, without knowing that Taggart had Pilgrim heritage. Sansky insisted there was no other choice. During the jump, even in the last moment, Gerald asked Sansky to reconsider whether to trust Taggart, who claimed to know better than the ''Claw's computer. Taggart did not comment when the Claw successfully jumped to the Ulysses Corridor. After discovering a Kilrathi presence in the D-5 asteroid field, Gerald scolded Jeanette Deveraux and Blair for revealing their position and even accused Blair for being a Pilgrim saboteur. He proposed to prepare his starfighters to send a message to the enemy but Taggart warned that this would make the Claw vulnerable. Sansky however went with Gerald. While Baker Wing was out, and while the Claw was en route to Planet 415, a pilot was lost and Gerald stormed to the bridge inquiring who breaks radio silence. Falk replied that multiple targets approached and Gerald ordered to launch all available fighters. The Claw managed to destroy a but the returned two more torpedoes. Gerald ordered hard to port but the Claw was hit. During the battle Sansky was wounded on the head and Gerald assumed command. After the battle, the Claw retreated in a planetoid crater for repairs and Gerald followed Taggart's guidance. Taggart proposed to board an approaching ConCom and steal fuel cells. Always distrustful, Gerald suited up and came with them, insisting he had no confidence in a mission led by a rogue and a half-breed. When the operation was succesfull, the Claw left the asteroid and Gerald ordered Obutu to send a drone to Tolwyn with the intelligence gathered. However Obutu could not carry out the order as the drones were damaged, and Taggart proposed that Blair should go as a courrier. It was then when he revealed to Blair their common Pilgrim heritage. The Claw eventually came to the Sol Sector. Gerald was in the hangar of the Claw while the medics came to collect Deveraux, who had just been rescued by Taggart. Pilgrim Stars Gerald is promoted to captain. He requests promotion to Obutu as his XO. Pilgrim Truth Personality Gerald had the reputation of a by-the-book XO, but inflexible and not a good motivator. His crews respect him but only that. He was one of the prejudiced Terran Confederation officers in the aftermath of the Pilgrim War; he was very distrustful and eager to blame the Pilgrims for everything concerning the Terran-Kilrathi War. In his personal life, Gerald was reported to like camping. Behind the scenes Oddly, the incrypted records data sent by Tolwyn has Gerald listed as commanded by "Admiral Gerald". category:Tiger's Claw personnel category:Humans